Is being auctioned this weekend in Monterey (no affiliation):
Part of the Story[/b]
"DeVaux wanted a Gold Cup-caliber race boat for exclusive use on Lake Tahoe, where he and his neighbors competed for title of “Lake Champion,” and in 1922 DeVaux once again commissioned Hacker to build the 29-foot Apache II, which arrived at Lake Tahoe in late summer of that year. DeVaux’s good friend E.J. Hall, owner of the Hall-Scott Motor Car Company, supplied Apache II’s first powerplant, an experimental supercharged Hall-Scott LM-6A marine engine. At 825 cubic inches, the LM-6A was 200 cubic inches larger than Gold Cup rules allowed and produced approximately 300 horsepower, enough to take Apache II to many wins, including the Season Kick-Off 4th of July 6-Mile Races in 1926 and 1927.
After the Depression, DeVaux sold Apache II to his good friend George A. Newhall, who had earlier purchased Apache in 1928. Evidence indicates that Apache II received a number of different engines during Newhall’s ownership, most notably a Liberty V-12.
Newhall kept Apache II for pleasure use until selling it in the mid-Fifties to Oakland boat broker Ed Thrall, who then sold the hull to Myron Hagen of Kensington, California. Hagen fitted a DeSoto V-8, moved the rudder inboard and renamed the boat Rumrunner. Legend has it that on its first foray in the waters of San Francisco Bay, the boat nearly sank when its low freeboard caused it to take on water. Hagen retired the boat immediately, leaving it open to the elements for thirty years before it was rescued by Don Curtis of Benicia, California in 1986. In 1993 Dave Wright purchased the boat from Curtis, returned it to Lake Tahoe and eventually took it to his Fallbrook, CA ranch. It remained untouched there until 2005 when Wright and his friend Mike Grannis partnered for the boat’s restoration.
Such was Hacker’s craftsmanship that, eighty years after its construction, thirty of which were spent exposed to the weather, the hull revealed itself to be in excellent condition. The quality of the original wood, the copper rivet fasteners and Hacker’s workmanship were such that most of the original structure, including the bottom, was preserved in the restoration.
The original Hall-Scott engine was long gone, but Wright and Grannis hewed close to the spirit of their task by fitting Apache II with a 1917 Packard-built Liberty V-12 WW I aircraft-marine conversion. Designed, appropriately enough, by E.J. Hall and Packard’s J.G. Vincent, the Liberty is identical to the unit George Newhall had installed in the boat in the 1930s. Generating 400 horsepower and 1,350 pounds-feet of torque, the 1,650 cubic inch, 800 pound Liberty V-12 was an engineering marvel in 1917 and served as a multi-purpose workhorse during WWII. Sprouting from the polished mahogany deck in all its intricate mechanical glory, the Liberty is the crowning touch on this magnificent historical artifact.
Following its two year restoration, Apache II returned to Lake Tahoe in grand style at the 2007 Concours d’Elegance, where it once again roared across Tahoe’s waters before receiving the “Best Engine” award. It received a warm welcome at the Clayton, NY Vintage Race Boat Regatta, and returned again to the Tahoe Concours in 2009, where it won “Best in Class” and the perpetual award for “Best Original Tahoe Boat.”
More details can found here:
http://mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=CA0810-96560
